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Bender Gets Made
"Bender Gets Made (a.k.a. Bendfellas)" is episode thirteen in season two of Futurama. It was originally shown in North America on April 30, 2000. Plot The Planet Express crew attends a taping of Elzar's television show, much to the joy of Bender, who aspires to be a chef. Bender's admiration for Elzar does not prevent him disrupting the show to be more a part of it, and when his camera's flashbulb momentarily distracts Elzar, the chef accidentally hits Leela in the eye with his spice weasel. Leela is advised to wear an eye patch for a week. Elzar invites the entire crew to dinner at his restaurant in order to make up for the accident. He presents them with individually tailored dishes, and after the dinner, he presents them with a tray of chocolates...with a bill underneath. Unable to pay, facing arrest of the whole crew, and not least because it would mean he would get to work with his idol, Bender suggests he work for Elzar to pay back the debt. The crew hasten to praise Bender's qualifications as an employee. Bender begins working at Elzar's restaurant as a busboy. The three members of the robot mafia, the Don-bot and his goons Clamps and Joey Mouse Pad, come to eat at Elzar's, and Bender attempts at grifting from them convinces the Don-bot member that Bender would be a good prospect. Bender is offered a chance to join the robot mafia. Needless to say, this is right up Bender's alley, and his first jobs run smoothly. The mafia tell Bender of their plans for a Zuban Cigar heist, and recommend that he make sure of an alibi. Bender feigns illness, and hooks up a recording of his anguished cries to simulate his presence on board the Planet Express ship. All seems well until the target of the heist comes into view ahead of the mafia ship: the Planet Express ship. With Leela unable to pilot the ship, Fry both fires and steers, but the engines run out of fuel when Clamps clamps the fuel line. The mafia blindfold and tie up Fry and Leela. Bender is now able to move around without them seeing him, and changes the setting on his voice modulator to an upper class English accent. The mafia, checking the ship's log, discover that a robot is part of the crew; Bender's voice changing allows him to feign finding himself and beating himself up. Even Leela's blindfold coming off doesn't blow his cover, since she can only see a blurred silhouette. Bender pledges to stay behind to finish the "doity woik", further convincing the Don-bot of his ruthlessness and loyalty. When they fly away, he ties himself up, and pretends to have only just regained consciousness. At the Planet Express headquarters, Leela removes her eyepatch, and sees the same blurred silhouette, which turns out to be Farnsworth. Tinny Tim delivers Bender's share of the loot, and Bender gives him a message to the Don-bot: "I'm quitting organized crime. From now on I'll stick to the regular kind." Quotes References Explained *The episode title refers to the Mafia system of rewarding its most valued members. Such a person is called "a made man", and in the heyday of organized crime, such a person was untouchable by the law, and by other gangsters. *Elzar's phrase "knock it up a notch" is a reference to television chef Emeril Lagasse's phrase "kick it up a notch" The exclamation "Bam!" is copied verbatim. *The channel that airs Elzar's television show is called MmmTV. *The doctor at the Taco Bellevue Hospital references Gidget, the Chihuaha mascot for a series of Taco Bell advertisements. *The binary numeral system used in computers is again referenced when Clamps insists that the Robot Mafia's "private lottery", an illegal numbers game, is "nothing fancy, y'know, ones and zeroes mostly". *"Sammy 'the Mechanical Bull' Gravano" is a reference to mobster Sammy "the Bull" Gravano, an associate of John Gotti. Trivia *The text on the ambulance, which brings Leela to the hospital, says "Meat Truck" in Alienese. External Links *Episode Transcript Category:Season Two